Key Moment
There are few areas of the game which the Boston Celtics have failed to dominate this season. One of them is the third quarter.
Boston entered Sunday night’s contest in San Antonio ranked eighth in the NBA in third-quarter net rating. Suffice to say they’ll be moving up those rankings following a resounding win over the Spurs.
The Celtics put together their second-highest scoring third quarter of the season by dropping 40 points on San Antonio. It was an onslaught from the start of the frame until the very end – and we mean that quite literally.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum teamed up to open the period with back-to-back buckets for the C’s. Brown’s came off an offensive rebound that he quickly followed up with a smooth fadeaway from the free-throw line. Next, Tatum cashed in on a 3-pointer from the left wing to push the Celtics ahead by 17 points.
Boston never slowed down from there as it shot 53.3 percent from the field over the course of the quarter. That included another beautiful fadeaway, this time by Payton Pritchard, just ahead of the buzzer. He quickly took the ball in transition after a Spurs make and drilled a fadeaway with 0.2 seconds left on the clock over the outstretched hand of Cedi Osman. Pritchard made the shot from the left baseline, right in front of Boston’s bench, and it prompted every member of the team to jump up out of his seat in celebration.
At that point, the C’s surely knew they were well on their way to victory.
Boston pulled ahead by as many as 30 points during the period while limiting San Antonio to just 23 points on 40.9 percent shooting at the other end of the court. The Celtics carried a 105-76 lead into the fourth before coasting to a 134-101 win.
Key Player
Derrick White just continues to sizzle.
The seventh-year guard, who should absolutely be chosen to his first All-Star game this season, hit his season scoring average right on the head Sunday night despite playing only 25-plus minutes. White finished the contest with 17 points on only 11 shots. He connected on seven of those attempts and shot 3-for-6 from distance to account for his scoring total.
One of those buckets was arguably the loudest dunk of White’s career. That dunk came with 5:46 left in the third quarter, after Jaylen Brown picked off a Spurs outlet pass and dropped a dish off to White for an uncontested, right-handed slam. After the dunk, White, typically mild-mannered, took an extra moment to celebrate by staring at Boston’s bench before slapping five with Brown and heading to the other end of the floor to play some defense.
White rounded out his box score with five assists and two rebounds during his 25-plus minutes of playing time. Boston outscored the Spurs by 24 points while he was on the floor.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston made five more free throws (17) than San Antonio attempted (12).
- The C's outscored San Antonio by 33 points during Kristaps Porzingis' 29-plus minutes of action. He finished with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- Luke Kornet led all reserves with 12 points.
- All five of Boston's starters finished with a plus/minus rating of at least plus-17.
- Derrick White totaled 17 points on only 11 shots.
- Porzingis, Kornet and Jayson Tatum each blocked two shots.
- Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 22 points.
- Victor Wembanyama was right behind him with 21 points.
- Each team dished out at least 28 assists, with Boston notching 29 and San Antonio totaling 28.
- The Celtics committed only 11 turnovers.
- Payton Pritchard led the game with seven assists.
- Tatum scored 25 points, and Jaylen Brown scored 24.
- Boston led from start to finish, and pulled ahead by as many as 37 points.
Quote of the Night
“I think just having that mindset of the third quarter's important, and coming out ready to go. I think we finished the first half well, and then just kept it going from there.'"
- Derrick White on Boston's dominant third quarter